Life
by Pink Mockingjay in Hufflepuff
Summary: We were changed in an instant, we became so much more. Our definition of perfect was written when she was born.
1. We Will Show You The Oceans

_**Hi everyone! I simply couldn't help myself. Enjoy.**_

 ** _Rated T for slight language and possible content._**

* * *

 _We will show you the oceans and everything in between._ -"Life" by Sleeping at Last

* * *

He felt cold and hot and found it difficult to breathe. The shouting directed at him seemed to flow around, past him. Stuck to the spot he was standing, he couldn't move. He felt like a pole in the water that the washes crashed at, but bent around on contact, leaving him wet and stunned, but not destroyed.

He couldn't do anything. He couldn't move, couldn't think straight, couldn't talk, couldn't breathe.

She was angry, no, furious. Her words were sharp and her tone was cruel. But her eyes, there was something in her eyes he was sure he had never seen before. Fear perhaps.

Before he really got the chance to try to decipher it, she turned on her heel, a wave of turquoise following her.

He was left there, rooted to the spot, dumbfounded, as the crew that had gathered to watch the spectacle dispersed.

A baby.

Certainly they couldn't look after a child.

* * *

It was late and Harry was still awake. He was sitting against post that held up a sail, watching the night sky with a sort of panicked calm he couldn't place.

The waves crashed against the ship, making a predictable rocking pattern he knew like the back of his hand. These were the waves of calm seas, of water that was still like glass farther away from shore.

The side of the ship erased the view of Auradon he would have had if he was standing. He couldn't see the twinkling of the lights he knew were there, a dream in the distance.

He had asked Uma after she had returned home if it was beautiful there, she had scoffed at him and rolled her eyes, instead grumbling about foiled plans and spells and revenge.

Later that night when the two of them were alone, she described the things she had seen in the few hours she had been there in great detail. The beautiful dress she had whipped up for herself with magic, the feel of the fabric between her fingers. How it smelled like flowers and sea water aboard the yacht. How for a second she had forgotten why she was there and felt at peace and happy. Her finger traced out the shape of the Auradon City skyline in the darkness above her bed. There was a dreamy wistfulness to her whispers that night.

It had been months since that day and like clockwork, every fifteenth of each month since, Uma had received a letter or scroll with the royal seal on it. Auradon was trying several ways to get her to join them.

Apparently Evie, the blue haired traitorous princess, had made a list of the children of the Isle she believed would benefit from moving to Auradon in order of desire and need. The littlest Tremaine had been first, a special request from Evie to the king, a personal favor granted. Many of the children towards the top of the list were younger, around Dizzy's age, though some sibling or other family groups had been asked together. Several of the children had decided to go in the past months, however many had chosen to stay. Dizzy's older cousin Anthony hadn't been asked yet and had been heard complaining about his little rat of a cousin, how he didn't want to go anyway, how he'd turn down his offer if and when it came, but he was one of the handful who stood by the bridge each month, hoping his letter would arrive.

The fifteenth had been just the previous day. Uma didn't even bother opening it before dropping it off the side of the ship into the waters below. The water tore the letter apart almost instantly, and thus the month's chances of her leaving were gone.

Harry suddenly became very aware of the folded piece of paper in his pocket. It was a letter, his first. His was handwritten from the king himself, with notes from Mal and her little gang of traitors jotted in the margins. For whatever reason, he hadn't been able to dispose of it. He had folded it neatly and tucked it into his pocket. He felt like he should hold onto it for a reason he wasn't quite sure of at the time.

Perhaps his unconscious had known before Uma had even said a word.

The two of them couldn't raise a child. They weren't soft or gentle and he, well, psychotic had been used to describe him in the past. Their ship wasn't safe for a child to inhabit. They were unfit to be parents. No child deserved the life they had on the Isle. To bring another human into existence there would be exceptionally cruel, even by their standards.

But if the child were born in Auradon, perhaps things could be different...

He laughed a little to himself, shaking himself from the impossible daydream. Uma would never agree to that, never agree to go there. Not now. Probably not ever. As entranced as she had been by Auradon while she was there, she thought she wouldn't ever truly be welcome, no matter what Ben and Mal claimed in their letters.

And Harry wouldn't leave her, especially knowing what he did now.

They were a package deal, a team. They had been for a while. Not a couple, not dating, but something. She meant an awful lot to him, and he meant a lot to her, but they'd never admit it out loud.

The crew thought they were friends with benefits at most, and that was fine by them. Caring for someone so deeply could be mistaken for weakness and vulnerability, and it wouldn't look good for the Captain and First Mate to appear weak.

No one else needed to know that Harry joined Uma in her room when he couldn't sleep because he knew she always had a hard time getting to sleep. No one needed to know Uma retold stories with the most exquisite detail when the two of them were laying awake in the dark. No one needed to know how her eyes sparkled when Harry took her up to the crow's nest some nights to tell her the stories of the stars he had once been told by his mother.

His mother.

He hadn't thought of her in ages.

It was hard to think a lot about someone you could barely remember.

She had passed away when CJ was just a year old. He had been very nearly four, Harriet was six.

Harriet claimed their whole lives that he was their mother's favorite. He had taken after her the most as a young child; quiet, inquisitive, calculated, thoughtful. He had her eyes too. The only one of the children that did.

He didn't remember much of her. He had memories of her stories, but her voice had been lost to the years. Her smile was faint in his mind, her laugh a whisper.

The girls always blamed him for her passing, and so did he. He had been the one who was sick when she caught it. He had survived, but she had not. CJ resented him the most because her memories of their mother didn't exist because she had been so young.

His father avoided him if he could. Harry wasn't sure if it was because he was too much like his mother or if he was a disappointment, although his sisters told him often it was the latter. They had gone to Dragon Hall for school simply to avoid him, their scrawny shame of a brother.

As he grew older, he forced himself into a mold so hard he had forgotten the mousy boy he used to be. He was no longer scrawny, he was second in command of a ship, he wasn't afraid of his own shadow. He was fine with who he was now for the most part, but sometimes he couldn't help but wonder what he could've been if he still had his mother.

He still missed her very much. The fact that his own sisters blamed him so strongly for her death that he had started to believe it himself and grow to hate them for it probably didn't help the pain. He also had never been allowed to grieve her death. Harriet had hit him upside the head the night after she passed and yelled at him, saying pirates, especially boy ones, didn't cry.

He closed his eyes to try to recall anything he possibly could about the woman. He felt warm when he got the faintest of laughs to float through his mind.

He was startled out of his moment of solitude by a drop of water on his knee, followed by several more. It was raining. He opened his eyes and stood, turning to the stairs to descend to the lower decks. He glanced towards Auradon and stuck his hand into his pocket to touch the letter once more before retreating to his room for the night.

* * *

Some weeks later, the crew was eating at Ursula's. Uma hadn't joined them. She had been avoiding leaving the ship, but she had also been steadfastly avoiding Harry. How she managed to not speak to her second-in-command or even brush up against him on accident in two months of not leaving the ship would have impressed him if he wasn't so concerned over her.

She was pregnant. That was no secret. The whole crew found out when Harry did thanks to Uma's yelling. But now there was no way to hide it physically. And since it had become obvious, she had hardly left the ship. Harry wished he knew if it was shame, embarrassment, or something else, but she didn't speak to him so it was impossible to know.

It was his fault, wasn't it? His own fault that his, dare he say it, his best friend hadn't spoken to him in more than eight weeks.

He had tried, but she always pushed past him without a word. Her door was locked at night, an abnormality considering how often he had walked in at ungodly hours in the past.

The crew had taken to joking that the reason Uma refused to speak to him was that the baby wasn't his.

Harry knew that to be false, but the statement bothered him nonetheless. Uma was Harry's... whatever she was, but whatever they were, he knew that she was well aware she was his. He had taken to trying to ignore the teases because murdering a member of your own crew was frowned upon.

They were at it again, though. Gil was doing his best to shut them up and soothe the ruckus, but it wasn't working.

Harry couldn't take it anymore. "Shut up, the lot of ya!" he demanded, slamming his fist on the table as he stood. Everyone had been shocked into silence. "If any of you say one more thing about it, I'll feed you piece by piece to the sharks!"

No one moved, they all watched silently as he left the shoppe and headed back to the docks. No one wanted to test Harry's threats.

He was set on finding Uma and talking to her, even if it took breaking down her door or pinning her down. He deserved to know what was going on, didn't he?

He was so intently focused on getting her to talk to him that he almost didn't notice her on the top deck, wielding her sword against an old stuffed sack with all the grace and finesse of an experienced swordswoman.

Something about the sight made him uneasy and he rushed forward to grab her arm before she could make another jab. He felt her jump as he grabbed her.

"Should you be doing that?" he asked.

"Let me go, Harry." she growled, attempting to wrench her arm from his grasp. It was useless. "I said LET ME GO!" she screamed.

"NO!"

Her sword fell from her hand with a clatter and the look on her face tore into him. It occurred to him then that he had never once raised his voice like that to her before. She looked a little scared, a little betrayed, and maybe a little sad.

Harry took a deep breath to try and compose himself. "Not until you tell me why you've been avoiding me."

"You know why." she replied, back to herself. She wrenched her hand again and this time, he let her go. She sneered at him.

"I really don't, Uma."

"You... I don't have to tell you anything." she snipped.

"No, you don't. But considering that," Harry gestured at her middle. "Is partially my doing, perhaps you should."

She turned away from him then, looking out over the ocean. "Oh so now you pretend to care? When it's convenient for you?"

He leaned lazily against the mast, watching her look over the sea. "I'm not pretending. I've cared this whole time. It's you who's ignored me."

"Knock it off, Harry."

"What?"

"You can't- you can't go and knock a girl up and then still try to treat her like a friend. It doesn't work that way."

"Who said we were friends?" Harry asked with a grin.

She chuckled sort of darkly.

After a few beats of silence, Harry spoke. "It's just us here."

"And?"

"Tell me what's going on in that beautiful head of yours."

He expected a snort in reply, what he got was a sniffle that stood him up straight. Uma didn't cry.

"I'm scared."

"Scared? Of what?"

"I can't be someone's mother." she admitted, still looking over the sea. "And this kid, this kid didn't ask to exist and look what it's getting. An island of trash. We did this, Harry. We ruined someone's life before they've even got the chance to start it."

"You don't know that."

"I do," she insisted. "And that's if it lives, if I live. What if you're left with it alone? What if we both don't make it?"

Harry tensed at her words. "Don't talk like that."

"It's possible. More than possible." He knew that. He didn't want to think about it.

"Stop it." he begged.

She continued. "You've already lost your sister, you can't loose me too."

Harry drew a sharp breath and closed his eyes. Harriet had died not even a year prior in childbirth. The baby lived for only a handful of moments before it died too. He had never been close to Harriet, but she was still his sister. He found out she was gone hours after it happened. CJ hadn't even thought to inform him Harriet was in labor or that she hadn't made it. The wound still felt fresh.

If he didn't care much for his sister and felt such pain at loosing her, he couldn't even imagine what it would be like if he lost Uma.

Auradon news stations mentioned love all the time. Uma had told him true love's kiss had broken her spell on Ben. Harry wasn't sure if what he felt towards Uma was love, but it was strong whatever it was. And he couldn't loose her. He refused. He needed her. Uma was a strong girl. She would get through it just fine, he was certain.

When he opened his eyes, Uma was standing in front of him, concern written on her face.

Before either of them were really sure what he was doing, he pulled her forward into an embrace. She fought it at first, but quickly melted into his arms, gripping the back of his shirt tightly.

"I won't loose you." he told her softly. "I can't."

"You can't be sure about that."

"Watch me,"

She laughed a little, pushing herself closer to him. His confidence made her feel a bit better.

"You're not in this alone." Harry told her. And he meant it. Being a father wasn't what he had ever imagined he'd be, but he had gotten them both into this mess and he wasn't going to let her do it alone.

She didn't say a word, just held him tighter. And she didn't care who could've seen.

* * *

Things had gone back to normal after that. Well, for the most part. Harry and Uma were more affectionate than ever and he slept in her room nearly every night, not just on nights sleep didn't come easy.

Uma was still Uma, eight months pregnant or not. Sassy, snippy, course, cunning... she didn't change. Even more of a reason for Harry to back her against a wall and kiss her every now and again. It seemed she had grown to expect it. And it also appeared that she liked it. This only encouraged Harry to do it more often.

Their crew was confused to say the least. Harry, at one point, had flirted with anything that had a pulse, but now he didn't. He only had eyes for Uma it seemed. It was only Gil who knew this romance had been going on for a lot longer than the Captain and First Mate wanted everyone to believe.

When Harry looked at Uma now, the word girlfriend flashed in his mind, but he never said it to her out of fear she wouldn't like it. But it suited her, it suited their situation. He called her that to himself and for some reason, it made him happy.

Harry was in her room again. She had always tucked tight against him because she got cold easily at night, but he didn't mind. He had never minded.

He woke up to a hard nudge.

"Hm?" he muttered, opening his eyes. It was pitch black and the air was stale. He was used to it, but it always assaulted his nose when he woke up.

"Get up," Uma's voice demanded beside him. She sounded wide awake.

"Why?"

"If I have to be awake, you have to be awake. It's your fault."

"Huh?" he asked her, still half asleep. He rubbed at his eyes.

She sighed heavily. "Your child insists on being born, you fuckwit. Get up. I'm bored."

That got him awake. He sat straight up, and slowly, the edges of the room were coming into focus.

"Calm down," she said. "It takes a while. I just... can't sleep and I'm bored."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Sit with me. If I have to suffer, you do to."

"Do you want me to get someone?"

"Not now. I can handle it." she replied, leaning against him. He wrapped an arm around her.

They had never discussed anything. Never discussed names or where the baby would sleep or how to be parents or anything. They only really talked about the kid when it was unavoidable, and that didn't happen often. They were going into this completely blind.

Harry wasn't stupid though. He knew the basics. Feed it, change it, hold it. He hoped there wasn't too much more to it than that.

He felt Uma tense against him. She gripped his shirt, but didn't make a sound. He held her closer, hoping to provide some comfort. This was going to be a long process, a long night.

He soundlessly offered his hand to her the next time. He didn't expect her to take it, but she did. And she didn't let it go.

Hours later, things were progressing rather quickly. Contractions were no longer minor inconveniences Uma could handle without a sound. Harry had sent Gil to find someone, anyone to help, and Gil had brought back a girl just older than them, who had helped bring three babies into the world in the last two months. The first had been her sister's child, just out of necessity, but she had been able to keep everyone calm and knew enough about infants to help that she decided to start volunteering her assistance to people who needed it.

Any help was better than no help. Experienced help was even better. Things could go very wrong very fast during childbirth and as there wasn't any medical personnel on the Isle, there was usually no way to fix something if it did go wrong. This girl knew what she was doing, at least a little bit, and while Harry was still beyond worried, he felt better knowing someone in the room knew what was happening.

Gil had run for the hills after dropping off the volunteer and Harry half-wanted to join him. Uma wasn't quiet anymore, she had taken to yelling and cursing at people, Harry specifically, but she also had his hand in a bone-crushing grip, preventing him from going anywhere if he really would've wanted to go.

When things started to really progress, Uma demanded he leave.

"Absolutely not," Harry replied firmly. He refused to leave her in this state. He wanted to be there with her. Things happened so fast. What if she needed him and he was gone?

"You idiot," she sneered.

"You can insult me all you want, but I'm not going anywhere. I am not missing this." he replied.

"Damn you,"

He chuckled and squeezed her hand a little. He wasn't going anywhere.

After what seemed like an eternity later, a shrill cry pierced the room and a very exhausted girl sighed and closed her eyes, dropping the grip on Harry's hand.

Harry smiled. He hadn't lost her. He hadn't lost her and the baby was crying. That was a good sign. As obnoxious as the little cries were, something about them made Harry's heart swell.

"It's a girl," the girl, Nadine, told the both of them with a smile. She handed the little blanket-wrapped thing to Uma, and it snuggled against her, searching for warmth.

A little girl. They had a daughter.

"Oh," Uma breathed, looking at the tiny, mewling creature in her arms. "She's so tiny..." She tore her eyes away from the baby to look up at Harry. "She's so little."

Harry leaned over and kissed her forehead. He had never done that before, but it felt right.

"How did we...?" Uma trailed off, returning her gaze to the baby.

"I don't know, but she's perfect." Harry replied, knowing exactly what she meant. Everything had slid into place somehow. He felt complete.

Everything was different now. They were parents now. They had a baby, a little girl. And she was theirs. And somehow, she was perfect. That tiny human didn't ask to be born, but there she was, needing someone to care for her.

They were not going to be their parents. They couldn't be. How could you look at something so small and innocent that didn't ask to be there and decide that you could be mean to it? It was unfathomable. It was truly evil.

If they didn't feel that way, it meant they weren't truly evil after all. And maybe that was for the best.

Harry touched the baby's face gently with his finger. She was truly beautiful, even with wrinkles and a scrunched face. She looked like her mother. Her eyes fluttered for a moment, but didn't open.

Uma laughed a little, softly, as she shifted the baby in her arms.

Harry looked at the two of them. His family.

He had never felt so happy.

* * *

In the few hours since the baby had been born, Harry had seen a side of Uma he hadn't before. She was soft, maternal, gentle. She smiled more. If it was possible, it made him even more crazy about her.

It hadn't even been a day and the baby had changed her. He felt changed too. He already felt more patient, more gentle.

He was standing on the top deck of the Lost Revenge, cradling his daughter close to his chest. Uma was asleep and he hadn't put the little girl down yet.

It was night. The sky was inky and cloudless speckled with silver stars, and the water below matched ot perfectly. The water lapped against the hull of the ship gently.

They had decided to call her Cordelia. Daughter of the sea. Or jewel of the sea depending on who you asked. Either way, it was perfect. Uma had insisted her middle name be Harriet.

Cordelia Harriet. Cordy for short.

She was awake. Harry was making whispered promises to her between stories he had been told as a child. Promising to keep her safe, promising to do the best he could for her and her mother, promising to always be there. He knew she didn't understand him, but he didn't care. He wanted her to know how much she meant to him. He never wanted her to be unsure.

She whimpered and shifted in his arms, stretching. He looked down at her. She was innocent, small, pure, perfect. He adored her already. She felt right in his arms. This feeling when he looked at the tiny form must be what love felt like.

She started to fuss then, so he started to rock her, to soothe her. She quieted almost instantly. Sweet little thing. He never wanted to put her down. He had put his hook away to hold her and he'd rather have her than his hook any day. She was the most important thing to him now.

He looked back to the horizon, where Auradon glittered. The letter from months ago was still in his pocket, worn now and wrinkled. He had tossed the others, but that first one, he couldn't let it go.

Still holding Cordy, he let himself imagine what Auradon was like and he let himself wonder if he'd ever get to see it himself.

Cordy made a soft noise again, and he returned to his storytelling. Wondering would have to wait. They had Cordy now.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hi everyone! I hoped you liked the story! I'd love to see your thoughts in reviews!**_

 _ **I can continue this story if you'd like me to, but it can also stay as a stand alone fic.**_

 _ **The title and description were taken from "Life" by Sleeping at Last.**_

 _ **Thanks for reading and please review if you can!**_


	2. The Unimaginable Light You Hold Inside

**_Hi_** **All! My sincerest apologies for the huge delay, but I am chugging along through my second year of college currently and sometimes the last thing I want to do after a long day of looking at computer screens is to look at a computer screen to write. This chapter has been almost done for weeks, but i finally had the motivation to fix and finish it! Please enjoy!**

* * *

 _"I'll give you everything I have  
I'll teach you everything I know  
I promise I'll do better"_ -Light by Sleeping at Last

* * *

"What's this?" Uma asked, eyeing the crumpled piece of paper Harry had placed on the table in front of her.

"A letter from Ben. One of many I've gotten, however it is the only one I've kept."

"Why?"

"I don't know, actually. I just… felt like I had to hold onto it."

"No. Why did you feel the need to give it to me?"

Harry's eyes drifted to where Cordy lay on her back on a blanket on the floor, examining her hands. "We have a way out, Uma."

"And?"

"We can't… this isn't a good… we cant't give Cordelia a good life here, Uma. You know that."

Uma raised an eyebrow.

"It certainly isn't fair to her to raise her here. Especially because we have a way out. We could go to Auradon and be free of this place forever."

Uma looked down, contemplating what she should say. Cordy was her weakness. She did everything she could for that little girl.

"We could be happy. Really happy. All three of us. I know you don't like it here. I know I don't."

"What if it's a trap?" Uma asked quietly, looking back to Harry. It was a weak reason with no evidence, it was obvious by her face that she knew that.

"If it was a trap," Harry replied, humoring her. "Don't you think they would've stopped sending us letters months ago once they realized we were too smart for them?"

Uma looked away again. She knew he was right. The letters had never stopped. They kept coming. Once a month, just like they always had. Each sounding more desperate, less formal. They gradually moved from printed notes to handwritten letters. It seemed as if they were really wanted in Auradon.

"The next car is on Friday. We could meet it at the gate and go."

"They don't know about Cordy…"

"A lot of people don't."

"What if they don't let us come?"

Harry frowned and sat beside her. "Why are you being more difficult than usual?"

Uma shook her head and stood up, wandering towards the corner of the room.

"Are you afraid?"

No response.

"You are,"

"No… I just…"

"Just, what?"

"Why do we deserve to go? Can't we just have someone else take Cordy? She could get her happily ever after. She hasn't done a thing wrong."

"They want us, Uma."

"What if I don't want them?" Uma snapped. The sudden noise startled the baby, who started to whine.

Harry sighed and went over to where Cordy was whimpering. He bent down and scooped her up into his arms before resting her on his shoulder, where she curled against him instantly and quieted. "There now," he murmured, rubbing her back. "It's alright. Mama didn't mean to frighten you."

Harry stood looking at Uma for a few minutes, their daughter sucking her fingers contentedly on his shoulder. "She changed. Maybe we can too."

The she in question was of course Mal.

"We already have, I think." Harry said, glancing down at the baby in his arms.

Uma sighed. She reached out and stroked Cordy's head gently for a few moments. Certainly they couldn't send their little girl to Auradon without them. They would miss her far too much. She had become their everything the moment she entered the world. And she deserved the world, she really did. Their sweet little baby deserved every possible opportunity. She deserved a happy life. This really was their way out. If they left now, Cordelia wouldn't even have memories of the Isle, she wouldn't be scarred.

Cordy cooed quietly and Uma looked up to Harry again, looking stern.

"If we go, we bring Gil with us."

A smile spread across his face. "I figured that went without saying."

Uma nodded and reached out both of her arms, indicating to Harry that she wanted to hold Cordy. He obliged. Cordy smiled brightly at her mother. Uma would do anything to keep that smile on her face. "I guess we're going to Auradon,"

She wasn't about to be happy about it, but it was best for Cordelia. She had to do what was best for her baby. No one had ever done anything right for her, but she had the chance to change that cycle. She had the chance to do better than her own mother ever had.

Harry grinned. "I guess we'd better pack then," He directed his attention to Cordelia. "Right, little lady?"

And then he tickled her, sending her into peels of happy laughter. Bright, innocent laughter that didn't understand the impact the words her parents spoke would have on the rest of her life, on how much everything was going to change. Hopefully, the move would allow her innocence to last longer than it would on the Isle. Hopefully, that light would stay in her eyes forever.

Uma smiled a little. A little sacrifice of her pride to give her two favorite people in the whole world a happy life. Who ever thought she'd have gone soft for Harry Hook of all people?

* * *

 _ **A/N: Isn't Cordy so cute? I just love her. What did you think about this chapter? What do you think will happen next? Leave your thoughts and comments and predictions in a review! I'd love to read them! See you soon (I hope)! Thanks for reading!**_


	3. Your Love is My Turning Page

_**Sorry for the incredibly long delay. I've been dealing with a lot lately. I do hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

* * *

"Are you ready?"

Uma looked to the doorway, where Gil was standing, looking eager.

"Yeah, almost." She replied, shoving something into her bag before cinching it closed and swinging it over her shoulder. "I… can't believe we're doing this."

She glanced around the bare walls of the ship. Her room was empty. Not that it had been impeccably decorated before, but what little personalization had once existed in that room- her clothes and little treasures from throughout the years- were all packed up. Harry's too. Between herself and Harry, they only had enough for a bag each and some extra shoved into a shared bag. Cordy had a whole bag to herself. She had more clothes than her parents combined. The crew spoiled that baby, whether they wanted to admit to it or not. Uma wasn't quite sure what they would do without Cordelia. Or their captain for that matter. None of them had really showed an interest in coming with them, but Uma had decided that she was going to make Evie put all their names on her list, just in case they ever did want out.

"Me either," replied Gil, who had his own bag on his shoulder.

Uma sighed before checking under the bed one last time. She straightened herself up again and looked back to Gil. She was worried.

"Hey," Gil said gently to her. Apparently her face had betrayed her expression. "It's going to be okay,"

Uma managed a small smile. Gil was always so positive. She wasn't sure how he managed it. The bumbling goofball had always been a ray of sunshine on their ship. Somehow, Cordy seemed to have absorbed that from close proximity. Cordy was a rather serious baby most of the time, but when the situation called for it, she was giggly and friendly and smiley, just like her uncle Gil. Harry joked on occasion that she wasn't his daughter after all. That she was Gil's. That always earned him a punch in the shoulder.

"Come on," Gil offered his hand towards her. She took it. "Let's go."

* * *

Harry was on the deck with Cordelia in his arms. He was pointing out towards Auradon and speaking to her. Uma couldn't hear him, but she saw Cordy lean her head against his. And she saw Harry hold her closer. Cordelia had made his heart soft in the best of ways and Uma thought it was… nice.

The rest of their bags were by Harry's feet. Their entire life.

"You ready to head out?" Uma asked, as she approached the two people she loved most in the world.

Harry turned his head to face her and Cordy chained her neck to see her mother and began to reach out for her. Uma couldn't read Harry's expression. "Aye aye, Captain."

She rolled her eyes and took Cordy into her arms and rested her on her hip. The little girl's attention was immediately drawn by her mother's braids. Uma grabbed the smallest of the other bags with her free hand. Harry managed two and Gil grabbed the extra one.

They stood in the middle of the deck for a few moments, just looking at each other.

Uma sucked in a deep breath. "To the bridge."

"To the bridge." Harry repeated with a slight smile. Gil nodded.

And so the four of them headed off the ship, down the gang plank, and onto the dock.

"See you never," called a member of the crew.

Uma stopped and looked up. The boys followed suit. There, on the deck, stood their whole crew, looking over the side of the ship.

That one sentence was enough to break the silence. The rest of the crew began calling out to them as well. Uma had wanted to avoid the sappy goodbyes, though they had bade everyone farewell the previous evening.

"We'll miss you, Captain."

"Don't forget us,"

"Eat some ice cream for me."

"Don't forget to tell the kid about her family back here."

"If you ever put on a crown, Hook, I will never forgive you."

For some reason, Uma almost felt like she was going to cry. That crew, those dirty pirates, had been the closest thing to a family she had ever had. She had Harry and Cordy now, but truly, the entire crew had been her family. And they may have driven each other absolutely crazy and maybe they never fully listened to her, but she did still care about them somewhere deep down. She must have, as her eyes welled with tears she refused to cry.

"Goodbye," Harry and Gil called back to the crew. Uma could only raise a hand, for she feared that if she opened her mouth, words would not come and tears would escape. There was a good chance she would never see these people again.

The crew raised their hands in response, bidding the four of them farewell as they turned to go towards the bridge where the car would be arriving soon.

Harry sighed as they walked away and Uma turned to look at him. His eyes were directed at the ground. He had told CJ about his plans to leave with Gil, Uma, and Cordy the day before, and on Uma's urging, hated invited her along. She had laughed in his face and hadn't even enough tact to say goodbye. Even Gil's brothers had managed to be decent enough to send Gil off with a goodbye. CJ had turned and left her brother standing there. Harry had never gotten along with her, but he still cared about her. She was his last connection to his mother now that Harriet was gone. And Uma knew he was hurting much more than he would ever say. Colista Jane was lucky Uma hadn't seen her in the last twenty four hours, the little brat.

Uma leaned over a little and did something she didn't often do. She kissed Harry's cheek. He looked up at her in surprise, eyes wide and a small smile tugging at his lips. She grinned in response.

Gil was a little ahead of them, chattering about something, he didn't notice the brief moment of intimacy behind him.

Soon, they were by the bridge. The car was due in five minutes. No one else was around, except for the child who had taken it upon himself to deliver the request letters. Perhaps they were the only four heading to Auradon this time.

For whatever reason, this was both comforting and frightening.

They stood in silence, the only sound was the sea in the distance and Cordelia's occasional coo.

And then they saw the barrier shimmer as the limo came closer and closer.

This was it. This was for real. Gil looked excitedly between his two friends as the car pulled up to a stop in front of them. The driver rolled down his window and gestured to the boy who would take the letters. The driver was on the other side of the car from where the pirates stood, but they could still hear him.

The man greeted the boy kindly and handed over the letters before passing a box of cookies out the window.

"Those are for you, young man. Courtesy of Belle."

"Thank you!" The boy replied.

"Of course. See you next week."

The boy then ran off, clutching the letters and the cookies close.

The driver looked over to them and looked surprised. He got out of the car and walked around to greet them. He was a pleasant looking fellow, with ginger hair and brown eyes.

"Good afternoon, my name is Zach. have you all been invited to Auradon?"

"Y-yes," Harry stuttered out, suddenly nervous. He dropped his bag and pulled out his old, crumpled letter. The driver took it and read it over. His eyes widened. "Harry Hook?"

"Yeah. And Uma. And Gil and the baby, but they don't have letters." Harry replied. He suddenly realized perhaps maybe Gil and Cordy wouldn't be allowed to join them. They hadn't been invited. If Gil had, he had lost any letter about it. But certainly Cordy wouldn't have a letter.

Zach smiled widely at them. "That's perfectly fine," He strode over to the door and opened it for them. "Please get in, all of you. King Ben and Lady Mal have been eagerly anticipating your arrival."

Gil slid into the car first, followed by Harry, and then Uma with little Cordy. They set their bags on the floor. The limo was full of candies and cookies. They had never seen so much. Gil's stomach growled.

"Please, help yourself to anything. We will arrive at our destination in about an hour. If you have any questions, there's a little door. Please feel free to ask me anything during the drive." Zach said, before he shut the door.

Zach returned to his seat and he called someone in his earpiece as he began the return drive to Auradon.

"Yes, I do have passengers. You won't believe me, Your Highness. Harry and Uma. Yes, I'm serious. We'll be there in about an hour. See you then."

An hour later, Ben stood outside the castle, hand in hand with Mal. Evie, Jay and Carlos were with them, all excited to see Uma and Harry. They had been hoping they'd come for months, and they were coming. There was hardly any fear that they were plotting something. Mal said she doubted Uma would try anything again, and everyone agreed with her.

Before they knew it, the limo had pulled up in front of the castle. Ben squeezed Mal's hand and she beamed at him.

Zach greeted the five excited young adults before opening the door for his passengers to come out.

It took everything Mal had to prevent her mouth from dropping open in shock when she saw them.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave your thoughts and predictions in a review!**_

 _ **Title from: Turning Page by Sleeping at Last**_


	4. Change the Heart

_**Full title: Change the Heart in Which We Change Our Minds**_

* * *

 _ **Hey, everyone! Sorry it's been a while! I'm still doing the whole college thing. Hope to work towards finishing this story!**_

 _ **I have seen the third movie, but this takes place a few months after the second movie and ignores the entirety of the third.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

Evie nudged Mal hard in the back. Mal bit her lip to keep her mouth closed. Jay whistled low and Carlos murmured something. Thankfully, Ben had been raised all his life to keep his composure and despite the brief squeeze to Mal's hand, he appeared totally unfazed at the sight before them.

Mal hadn't known what to expect when she heard that Harry, Uma, and Gil were on their way to Auradon. An apology? Cruel glares? An ambush? She did know for sure however, that she wasn't expecting this.

Harry had gotten out of the limo and was standing with his arms crossed loosely in front of him. Gil was standing to his left and had the slightest hint of a smile on his face as he looked at the castle. Neither of them were surprising. But Uma was.

Uma was standing to Harry's right, looking a little… uncertain. Timid, even. Mal had never seen her look so unsure of herself. And balanced on her hip was a baby. A baby with dark, curly hair, a warm, light brown complexion, and curious, bright blue eyes.

Mal tried her best not to stare.

"Well," Ben began in a friendly tone. "It's good to see you again now that no one wants to kill me."

There was no response. Mal could've sworn she heard crickets, though it was the middle of the afternoon.

The awkward silence lasted a moment longer. Even the baby was silent.

Ben cleared his throat. "Welcome to Auradon! We're excited to have you join us. I, uh…" he trailed off. He was going to talk about school, about moving them into dorms so they could have somewhere to stay for the summer, but that didn't seem quite right anymore. Not with the baby. His eyes landed on the child, who was curled against Uma's side.

"Go ahead, say something." Uma challenged. "I know you're all dying to know."

Ben's eyes widened. Goodness, he didn't know what to do. And from the silence of his girlfriend and their friends, neither did they.

Zach took that moment to get back in the driver's seat of the limo and with a wave, drove off, leaving the eight teenagers alone.

Uma sighed and rolled her eyes. "What, don't want to hurt our feelings?"

Ben began. "No, I-"

"We're, we're just a little surprised." Evie interrupted. "We… didn't know about…"

"About the… baby." Mal finished.

"Is it yours?"

All eyes turned to Jay.

He held his hands up in front of him. "Hey, it's just a question. Could be a sister or something?"

Uma shook her head. "Of course she's mine,"

The shade of the baby's eyes suggested who her father was, but it wasn't certain. Lots of babies had blue eyes, regardless of what color eyes they had as they grew up.

"Do ye have a problem with that?" Harry asked, looking between the four traitors and the king and taking a step forward.

"No, of course not." Ben replied. Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay shook their heads.

"What's her name?" Evie asked.

"Cordelia," Uma said. The baby looked up to Uma at the mention of her name. Uma quickly touched her forehead to Cordelia's. The baby cooed softly.

"That's a beautiful name," Evie replied softly.

"Um, thank you," Uma said softly.

"Why don't you three- four- follow us inside and we'll get you settled in." Ben suggested.

"I-in the castle?" Gil asked.

"Yes," Ben answered.

"We get to go into the castle." Uma confirmed.

"Why of course," Ben replied casually. Truthfully, they hadn't been planning on settling them into the castle. They were supposed to show them around and then take them to Auradon Prep and meet Fairy Godmother and move them in there. But a school dorm wouldn't be good for a baby. So, change of plans.

There were three empty bedrooms in a row in one of the west wing hallways, which functioned as guest bedrooms when Adam and Belle had people visit for long periods of time. Ben and Mal led them there. Originally, Harry and Gil were going to the boys' dorms and Uma was to get a room in the girl's side, but now they were weary to suggest anything, or separate Harry and Uma, so Ben opened each of the three doors and told them they were welcome to choose whichever room they wanted and to make themselves at home, their things would be brought to them shortly, and they would leave them alone to settle in. Someone would come get them for dinner.

And then, they left them alone in the hallway. They walked all the way to the other end of the hallway before Mal let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Ben wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I, I just wasn't expecting them to have a kid."

"Me either," Ben replied. "Kind of throws our plan for a loop, huh?"

"Yeah but…"

"But what?" Ben asked, stopping and turning towards Mal.

"I don't…" Mal sighed. "I don't like the way Uma was acting. She was… you've met her, that's not how she is."

"She's probably just nervous," Ben assured. "You four were a little uncomfortable when you first got here. And Dizzy wouldn't let go of Evie for that whole first week."

"I guess," Mal replied.

Mal frowned. She wasn't sure exactly what had made the cocky and loud-mouthed Uma so quiet. She had said all of ten words since she arrived. It unnerved her. It was worrying.

"We'll let them settle in for a few hours and then we'll all have dinner and maybe then they'll be more willing to talk to us."

Mal nodded.

Ben gave Mal a small smile. Mal had been becoming more and more compassionate and her heart always meant well. She was a sweet girl, a good friend. He could tell she cared about Uma. "I'm going to go see if mom and dad still have the crib from when I was a baby and uh, make some calls, okay?"

"Okay," Mal nodded. "I'll go see what… Evie's up to I guess."

"See you soon," Ben said before kissing her softly and then heading towards his office.

Mal glanced over her shoulder towards the new VKs and then headed back towards the room she and Evie shared in the castle.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hope you enjoyed! I hope to see you soon!**_

 _ **Title from: January White by Sleeping at Last**_


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